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Ruling won't alter birth-control coverage for many businesses

Business owners who don’t want to pay for their employees’ birth control are ending that coverage after the Supreme Court said they could choose on grounds of religious belief not to comply with part of the health care law.

By JOYCE M. ROSENBERG, Associated Press •
Published: July 3, 2014

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NEW YORK — Business owners who don’t want to pay for their employees’ birth control are ending that coverage after the Supreme Court said they could choose on grounds of religious belief not to comply with part of the health care law.

Some owners are already in touch with their brokers in the wake of Monday’s ruling.

Triune Health Group Ltd. wants to know how soon it can change its coverage to stop paying for all contraceptives, said Mary Anne Yep, co-owner of the Oak Brook, Ill., company that provides medical management services.

“We were ready to go when we heard the decision,” she said. Triune, which has 80 employees, had filed lawsuits against the U.S. government and the state of Illinois because of requirements that they pay for contraception.

The Supreme Court ruled that some businesses can, because of their religious beliefs, choose not to comply with the health care law’s requirement that contraception coverage be provided to workers at no extra charge. The 5-4 ruling has the Obama administration looking for another way to provide birth control for women who work for those companies.

The ruling applies to businesses that are closely held, generally defined as having five or fewer individuals owning more than 50 percent of the company’s stock. By some estimates, 90 percent of businesses are closely held and employ about half the nation’s labor force of more than 155 million.

While employers are not yet required to provide insurance under the health care law, many closely held companies do, and under the health care law, insurance is required to include contraceptive benefits. However, it’s not known how many closely held companies offer insurance, how many workers they have and how many companies plan to stop paying for contraception.

But it’s likely many companies will continue providing coverage for birth control, which would reduce the number of affected workers. A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found 85 percent of large employers already paid for contraceptives before the health care law required it. Many owners believe it’s an important benefit that helps them attract and retain good workers.